Aggies Head to Blinn for the Summer

Summer school enrollment numbers are out and Blinn is getting bigger while Texas A&M is getting smaller. Is there a correlation? A growing number of Aggies are choosing Blinn as their summer home.

Blinn College couldn't be happier about its first summer session enrollment numbers, which are up over five percent from last year. But at the same time Texas A&M University's numbers dropped slightly, with nearly 1,000 fewer students as compared to last summer.

It points to a growing trend, many Texas A&M students choosing to take their summer courses at Blinn. The reasons can be summed up in two words, cost and convenience.

"It's much cheaper than at A&M. The same class at A&M cost about $600, but here at Blinn, it only costs about $200," said Clint Herod.

Herod and Lindsey Ellsworth, both students at A&M, say it just made more sense to take some of their basic classes at Blinn this summer.

"The classes are a lot smaller. There's only about 20 or 30 people here as opposed to a history class at A&M that would be like 500 people," said Ellsworth.

Courses transferred from other schools only go towards the student's credit hours and not their GPA. So they simply have to pass the class to get credit and some say that relives the stress of trying to get an A. Student/ professor interaction is also a reason some Aggies give for heading to Blinn in the summer.

"Our students enjoy the personal relationships they get with our professors and also with our student service department in helping them progress through their admissions," said Juan Garcia, Admissions and Records Director at Blinn.

Many students may also be trying to squeeze in a few extra classes this summer before they face tuition increases at A&M this fall.

But A&M officials believe that some students may actually be waiting until the fall so they can take advantage of the new flat rate tuition. They also attribute the drop in summer school enrollment to the graduation of a number of students in May.

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